No One Decides But Me
by White Shade
Summary: Ruby takes Belle to the bar, but nothing is cheering her up. Ruby does what she think is best: forces her to choose.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: All right, so...this is what happened with this. I was up late, watching Belle push everyone away, including Rumpel. Well, I think Ruby could be Belle's new best friend.

**No One Decides But Me**

"Look, I'm not the person you should be asking this to," Ruby admitted to Belle as they sat in the bar. Ruby had dragged her all the way out here to have some fun, but so far, it wasn't working.

The girl knew there was something on Belle's mind, and she thought it was either Rumpelstiltskin or...well, Rumpelstiltskin. There really wasn't any other option at this point.

"I don't even understand how you could be with him," Ruby told her. Belle sighed, staring at the water glass, not even bothering to drink at all.

"It's just...I don't know what to do," Belle said. "I haven't many friends here. In fact, I've lived pretty sheltered..."

"Yeah, what exactly do you mean by that?" Ruby asked, setting her drink down and sitting on the bar stool next to her, brushing back the red stripe in her hair.

"Well, for 28 years, I was um...I was locked away."

"Where?" Ruby's eyes were now full of contempt.

"The asylum, below the hospital..." Belle confided, as she whispered it to Ruby.

"Oh that's awful!" Red exclaimed. "I shouldn't have brought you here. Come on."

She took Belle's hand, feeling like a bad influence to Belle.

"Wait, where are we going?"

* * *

Ruby took her out of the bar and they walked together along the streets of Storybrooke.

"You're not crazy," Ruby told Belle, and the girl merely nodded, saying she knew that when the curse was broken. Ruby asked for more detail and all Belle could say was the Regina hid her from Rumpelstiltskin, probably for some kind of dealing at some point or another.

As Ruby listened, she felt a little more sorrow now for Rumpelstiltskin. She knew Regina was bad, but she always thought Rumpel was worse. Now she wasn't so sure. Unlike Regina, Rumpel didn't take hearts from people's chests and keep them for himself.

"So, I just-I don't know what to do," Belle sighed, stopping because her legs were getting tired. Ruby sat with her on a bench.

"Well, if it were me...I've had enough of my family," Ruby said. "I'd want my own life, with someone I love. Now you, can give your true love a second chance."

"How would you know if he was my true love or not?" Belle asked. Ruby gave her a sarcastic glare.

"Oh come on! Belle, I've seen the way he looks at you. Well, the few times I've seen him actually look at you and his reaction to when you were mentioned. You were staying with him for a while," Ruby told her.

"I just don't know. He seems to be so rooted in magic, and he can't have me that way. Magic seems more important to him," Belle said, thinking about the time when he told her why he was using magic. Even if it was only for his son, Belle was cautious around him.

"Belle," Ruby said. "If there is one thing everyone in this town knows about Mr. Gold it's that he has wronged so many people with his deals and prices. But, when the prince came in and told me that he finally had Rumpel under control, that's how I could see it. No one, _no one_ ever has Mr. Gold detained without chains and special cell! But, the prince did. Why? Because Rumpelstiltskin was worried about _you_."

Belle looked up into Ruby's eyes, astounded at the way she told her tale.

"You speak as though you've lost a love yourself," Belle observed.

"...I did," Ruby said, her eyes conveying now a more sorrowful compassion. "Back when I realized I was part wolf and didn't know how to control it, I didn't even recognize my love...I killed him."

Belle's eyes widened, and she stood up.

"Whoa whoa, relax honey!" Ruby exclaimed. "I can control it now."

Belle's body slumped a little, and Ruby told no more of her story; but, all she had left to say to Belle was that unlike herself, she had a second chance.

"You can choose him. You can choose a different life," Ruby said, and as she intended the entire time, right up the road, two buildings down was Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop. Belle looked up to see the shop, then turned back to Ruby.

"No time like the present," Ruby urged. "If he rejects you, I'll be right outside."

"What? I can't go in there," Belle said, backing away. However, Ruby wouldn't have it. She pushed Belle, literally, up to the shop, just outside the door. Belle could see Rumpel working on something inside.

Ruby was the closest thing to a friend Belle had at the moment, but she really didn't want to go in.

"Do you want to be with your father the rest of your life?" Ruby whispered. "Really?" Belle shook her head, and Ruby smiled, urging her to go inside.

Red waited outside in the trees, trying to see if there was a reaction or spark amongst them.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Belle opened the door to the shop, but Mr. Gold was in the back now. Nervous, Belle looked around for a moment. On a shelf, she spotted the book she was reading before Rumpelstiltskin had thrown her out. Smiling, she found the courage to pick it up and find that her bookmark of golden thread he'd given to her for that specific purpose was still in place.

"Belle," Rumpel's voice sounded in shock at the sight of her. She gasped and turned around quickly, nearly dropping the book.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Rumpelstiltskin apologized. "I see you've found your book."

She nodded, wishing she had the courage to say more, but she couldn't find the words. After a few moments of silence, Rumpel assured her she could take the book and the marker if she wished, for free, as it was hers in the first place.

"Did you want to see me for some reason?" he finally asked her. Belle swallowed, a bit harder than she would have liked, but she brushed that off quickly.

"I came by because I-I wanted to-to see you and apologize for my behavior a few days ago. Thank you for saving me," Belle told him.

Mr. Gold looked at her, in his eyes reflected a sense of vulnerability, and she suddenly had the rush she needed to speak. She had to.

"Actually, I realized tonight that I sat in a cell for 28 years...and every moment, every minutes I spent in there, I got to thinking about some things. Things that I wish could have been done, things I wish _I'd_ have done, and what hurt me the most was...

"Rumpelstiltskin, I thought of you every day! Even that dungeon you threw me into was far better than that place. I thought about the times I'd spent making dinner and you not even coming home and how frustrated I'd get with you sometimes. I thought about the times when I'd come downstairs in the middle of the night and found you, spinning at the wheel like you always did. I never asked why you spun so late, I just-I just figured you'd lost track of time and kept going.

"And how, you'd let me read a book from your library once and a while...and the things I had to do to get those shelves clean so I could read the book you let me take!" Belle smiled at that memory and she stared down at the book she held in her hands.

"That ballroom, when I found that ballroom, and how you flicked your wrist and it was lit right in front of me, as if it hadn't been touched but was ready to go. You never did dance with me, but I was glad to see the ballroom like that. I thought about the time when I fell from the ladder pulling away at the curtains, a-and you...caught me, and I stared into your eyes, and I saw it. I saw it Rumpelstiltskin. You thought I was...

"After that I couldn't stop smiling...and the day you let me go to town, when Regina found me, and I came back to you because all I wanted was to be with you. I remember how I felt when I walked up to the doors. I felt full of hope and I was so eager to find out if it was really true love...that you and I were meant to be together."

Belle felt the tears swelling up in her eyes, but she didn't want to stop them. A smile tugged at the corners of Rumpel's mouth, and as he saw her tears, he felt compelled to stop her; but, he just couldn't.

"The whole time, I thought you were running away, because that kiss...it would have worked. I saw you change, and now, here you are. This is what you would have looked like all those years ago if I'd have broken your curse. I wondered why you threw me out, and I wondered for days until I heard stories of your son, and the rumors about what happened. I didn't know if I should believe them, but I understood why you did what you did. Why you threw me out.

"But, I missed you Rumpelstiltskin," Belle sighed as more tears fell. "I _really_ missed you."

"Aw, Belle," Rumpel said as he came from behind the counter and walked nearer to her. "I've missed you too. Regina told me you were dead-"

Belle let herself crash into him, wrapping her arms around his neck. Taken off guard, he hobbled slightly on his right leg, but he found balance and wrapped his only free arm around her in return.

"And I believed her," he finished. "Belle, I thought I lost you."

"You did, for 28 years," Belle replied as they let each other stand loose in one another's grasp. She looked up into his amber eyes and smiled again to show him she was bringing this conversation to a lighter conclusion.

"But then, you found me."

"You found _me_, Belle," he corrected. "And I promise I will never let you go again. I promise...I _will_ protect you."

"I can never go back to my father," Belle told him, allowing herself to stand on her own. "I don't belong there anymore. I've spent too much time away, and we just couldn't live under the same roof. It's like he's become impossible."

"More impossible than me?" Mr. Gold asked, eyebrows risen. Belle nodded.

"So...if you'll have me..." Belle was trying to drop hints as obviously as she could.

"Yes," Rumpel replied, hugging her again. "Yes, yes of course sweetheart. Anything."

"Anything?" Belle asked curiously. Rumpel smiled, realizing the manner in which she'd just said that one word he'd mocked so many people over.

"Yes. Anything. Say it and it's yours." Belle smiled and pressed herself against him, inhaling the scent of the shop and his musk cologne.

"You. No hatred, no magic for a week you," Belle requested.

"Done," he told her. She couldn't believe this, it was way too good to be true. Rumpelstiltskin would go without magic for a week, just for her? Belle would have to see this one to believe it for herself.

"I love you," Belle whispered as she let herself fall close to him again. He took her in his arms again, looking down as though he could have sworn he was dreaming. But no, she was there, she was warm to the touch, and she still wanted him.

"I love you too Belle."

Ruby dashed off into the night, all four paws forward; she was no longer needed.


End file.
